66 U.S.

267
1 Black 267
17 L.Ed. 142

UNITED STATES
v.
JOHN WILSON.
December Term, 1861

Appeal from the District Court of the United States for the northern
district of California.
This was a claim for a tract of land lying near to the mission of San Luis
Obispo, containing 300,000 square varas, or about fifty acres of land, and
called La Huerta de Romualdo. The claim was based on a grant to one
Romualdo, an Indian, by Pio Pico, dated on the 10th of July, 1846. But
there was evidence to show that the grantee and those claiming under him
had been in possession from a period long anterior to the date of the grant,
and that he was put in possession by the legal authorities of the country
agreeably to the customs and usages which prevailed concerning the
distribution of lots at the missions among the Indians, or 'children of the
missions,' as they are called by the Church. The special circumstances
connected with the grant of this tract to the Indian Romualdo were
detailed in the testimony of Bonilla, the Alcalde of the district, who
declared that he acted under the express order of the Governor (Alvarado,)
that he placed the grantee in possession, and that he kept a record of his
acts, which was lost.
Mr. Black, of Pennsylvania, for the United States. No confirmation can be
had under the grant by Pico, because its execution and delivery before the
conquest is not shown. Camberton, (21 How., 59;) Fuentes, (22 How.,
443;) Pico, (22 How., 406;) Teschmaker, (22 How., 392;) Vallejo, (22
How., 416;) Bolton, (23 How., 341;) Osio, (23 How., 273;) Luco, (23
How., 515;) Pico, (23 How., 321;) Palmer, (24 How., 125;) Castro, (24
How., 346.) The claim must rest upon the testimony of Bonilla and the
fact of possession, and it is submitted to the court to say whether that be
sufficient. The title is good if it was made according to the laws, customs,
and usages of Mexico. There certainly was a custom to distribute lands
near the missions among the neophytes. If the history of the country as

ascertained from the numerous records which this court has seen shows
that the custom existed long enough and was sufficiently uniform to give
it the force of law, and if this record proves that it was strictly observed in
the present case, then, perhaps, there is no sound objection to the
affirmance of the decree of confirmation. The honesty of the claim is not
denied, and it has been, as this court knows, the constant policy of the
United States not to interpose far-fetched or capricious objections against
claims which seemed to be made in good faith for small quantities of land,
especially where the claimant was in actual possession himself at the time
of the revolution in the government.
No counsel appeared for the claimant.
Mr. Justice NELSON.

This is an appeal from a decree of the District Court for the sourthern district of
California.

The tract of land in dispute is situated at the mission of San Luis Obispo, called
the Huerta de Romualdo, and is one thousand varas in length and three hundred
in breadth, containing some fifty acres of land. Wilson, the claimant below,
derived his claim from an Indian by the name of Romualdo, in 1846. In 1842,
Governor Alvarado directed Bonilla, the Alcalde at the mission of Obispo, to
distribute lands of the mission among the Indians residing there, in separate
parcels, as might be deemed proper, proportioning the quantities according to
the merits and abilities of each one, putting them into possession immediately.

The Alcalde, who is a witness on behalf of the claimants, states that, under this
order of the Governor, he distributed lands contiguous to the mission, some two
miles in length, and at other different points about a mile, where these Indians
had their houses and gardens. The lands were given, as to quantity, with regard
to the number in the family, the maximum generally being two hundred varas,
and the minimum one hundred.

The Alcalde states that he did not set off to Romualdo the land the claimed at
the time, as the tract was of greater extension than he gave the others; but that
the Indian afterwards, in the same year, brought a special order from the
Governor, which directed him to put Romualdo into the possession of the entire
extension of the 'Huerta,' on which he lived. The Alcalde testifies to the
genuineness of this special order. He gave the possession to the Indian
accordingly. A record was kept of the distribution of these lands in a book in

his office, as well as the orders from the Governor; but this book was lost, with
all the archives of his office, in 1846, when the American troops passed
through the mission. Romualdo had worked for the Governor, and his good
conduct was recommended in the special order for the distribution of his
Huerta to him. He was advanced in age, and had lived on this place for many
years, and had under cultivation, according to opinion of the Alcalde, a fourth
of the land.
5

There is a grant of Pio Pico to the Indian of the same piece of land, dated 10th
July, 1846; but this was after the conquest of the country by this Government,
and adds nothing to the strength or justice of the claim. The right stood before
the commissioners principally upon this grant of Pio Pico, and it was rejected
for the reason stated.

The further proof by Bonilla of the claim under Alvarado was given before the
district judge. The only evidence of this source of claim before the
commissioners was the certificate of Alvarado and of Bonilla, which was
properly regarded as incompetent and inadmissible. The district judge
confirmed the claim.

The title seems to be in conformity with the practice and usage of the Mexican
Government, in setting apart small tracts connected with the huts or houses in
which the Indians lived around the missions, and which were cultivated as
gardens. In the present instance, the possession and cultivation were of
considerable duration; and, according to the testimony of the Alcalde, the
distribution and assignment of the Governor was intended to be permanent, as a
home to the occupant. The claim appears to be an honest one, unaccompanied
with suspicion; and, under the circumstances, we think was properly confirmed.

It comes within the principle of the case of The United States vs. De Haro's
Heirs, (22 How., 293.)

As there is some question as to the extent of the claim, the petitioners setting up
a right to a much larger tract than stated in the evidence in the case that
belonged to Romualdo, and as the confirmation also is a confirmation to
Wilson, the petitioner, we shall modify the decree of the court below, so as to
confirm the claim as if presented in the name of the original claimant to him
and his legal representatives; and, further, that the judge of the court below
may direct a survey of the claim, if applied for by the Government.

10

With these modifications the decree below is affirmed.